


cadence

by Afadingamaranth



Category: Cyberpunk 2077 (Video Game)
Genre: Cyberpunk, Cyberpunk 2077 Spoilers, Cyberpunk 2077-Typical Violence, Emotional Hurt, Eventual Smut, F/M, Fix-It of Sorts, Fluff, Happy Ending, Idiots in Love, Melancholy, My First Work in This Fandom, Nomad V (Cyberpunk 2077), Not Beta Read, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Pining, Relationship(s), Soft Johnny Silverhand, V Needs A Hug (Cyberpunk 2077)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-25
Updated: 2021-02-06
Packaged: 2021-03-17 13:34:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,758
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28975200
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Afadingamaranth/pseuds/Afadingamaranth
Summary: All Valkyrie wants is to be left alone, she has given Night City everything.Unfortunately, shadows are lurking and Night City isn't done with her yet.
Relationships: Johnny Silverhand/Female V
Comments: 2
Kudos: 33





	1. Best I Can

**Author's Note:**

> Hi all!
> 
> I'm embarrassed to say that Cyberpunk brought me out of my near 12 year fanfiction hiatus. I'm so, so rusty and this is completely un-beta'd. 
> 
> I just couldn't not write this, so here we are. I even created an AO3 account solely for this. I hope someone else enjoys it! 
> 
> This may be multi chapter if there is interest!

Two months. 

It had been two months since Mikoshi. Two months since Johnny convinced Alt to actually help. Two months since V was made whole again. 

Two months since Johnny had disappeared into the Net. Two months since he had followed Alt across the Black Wall. 

There had been 57 missed calls and 83 new texts before her holo's battery had finally given up. That was almost two weeks ago. 

Nibbles was the only thing worth getting out of bed for. The goofy naked cat that Johnny had gotten attached to so quickly. The bakeneko, as Goro referred to him. 

Who fucking names a cat Nibbles, anyway? Johnny fucking Silverhand, that's who. V didn't even want the cat. Sure, she loved animals but she really didn't feel like she could be responsible for another living breathing thing that needed her. Her time was running out and who would take care of Nibbles if she never came home? 

But here she was. Laying face down on her bed, with Nibbles the cat staring at her with his unblinking bug eyes and the raspy purrs. 

He had been even more needy since Johnny left. It didn't even make sense, this alien masquerading as a feline shouldn't have even known the rockerboy was around. Clearly Nibbles had other plans. 

A rough tongue licked it's way up V's cheek and fishy breath followed. "UGH." The merc rolled on to her back and threw her arm over her eyes. "How is it that your breath always smells like fish but you refuse to eat anything but chicken?" 

"Merow?" 

"Yeah yeah yeah, and I'm pretty sure you have a jingle ball where your brain should be but I never say anything." V cracked an eye open, focusing on her pet. Nibbles padded to the edge of the bed and leaped off, landing perfectly in the laundry basket. The grace that this gonk of a cat had always amazed her. 

Pushing herself up into a sitting position, V groaned. The pains that the Relic had caused were long gone but there were times when her body still felt... not quite right. Phantom pains, Viktor had called them. Remnants from when V had not been alone in her own body. Her favorite ripperdoc had assured her that they would fade with time. 

Unlike that fucking tattoo that will forever stand out on her pale skin. 

Johnny + V 

Something pinched in her chest and V knew she couldn't chalk it up to phantom pains. 

She misses him, like she would miss breathing while drowning. The snarky comments, the stolen glances when he pretended she wouldn't notice. Waking up and seeing his scruffy face crowding her off her pillow when there were three more on the other side of the bed. She even missed the hours he had spent lecturing her and how he had gotten so annoyed when she laughed at him. 

The time at Kabuki, sitting on the couch side by side as Johnny strummed his guitar. The rockerboy's leg resting against hers, the smirk that crossed his handsome face when he noticed her fingers tapping along to the notes. 

They had planned so many things, both of them refusing to consider the thought that the other wouldn't make it out. Johnny kept insisting that they go back on that death trap of a rollercoaster and V had to wanted nothing to do with it. Now she would have ridden the damn thing a thousand times over if it meant that he would be next to her, his brown eyes warm on her and his laughs mixing in with hers.

Now, every day she lived with the memory of him and the things they would never do.

V knew she needed to snap out of it. Johnny was gone. He had chosen Alt. She would never see him again. 

His dogtags felt heavy against her skin.

"Love is all that's left and I'm emotionless." The merc sang quietly to herself, planting her feet on the dirty floor of her apartment. The old song had been stuck in her head since she woke up. "They told us love could save, so we prepared our graves." 

Her legs felt weak from disuse. V hadn't left the apartment in some time, depending almost entirely on Misty and Judy's goodwill to keep Nibbles fed. Judy had remarked on V's weight loss, wondering out loud if it had been a side effect of losing the Biochip while Misty had just given her gaunt face a knowing look. 

Judy had plugged her holo in next to the computer on her last visit, firmly chiding V for letting the battery remain empty. What if she had an emergency? Was she going to just lay down and die? 

Honestly, V was undecided. 

After a very hot shower, V found herself sitting at her computer. She had thrown on a pair of pink hotpants and a black tank, chuckling darkly when she realized that it was her Samurai shirt. The news played in the background as she scrolled through page after page of texts. 

'V get your ass out of bed and to the camp. The boys miss you and we have a job to do.' Panam. 

'V, come to the camp when you get a chance. Need you to cheer Panam up.' Mitch. 

'Kid, I know you're hurting. Come to the shop when you're able. Misty's worried about you.' Viktor. 

'That Misty said you aren't holding up well. Come to the Coyote, Mija. We'll have beer and carnitas waiting on you ' Mama Welles. 

'V, haven't seen you around. Joss and the kids have been bugging me to have you come over again. Give me a call please?' River. 

Toying with the dogtags around her neck, the woman sighed. At least none of them seemed urgent. The messages were mostly people checking in and well wishing with some weird poetry from Takemura. 

Nibbles had forgone the laundry basket for the desk and V absent-mindedly scratched under his chin as she switched from texts to calls. 

The calls and voicemails were more of the same, with the exception of multiple calls from Rogue. She had counted at least ten over the past week with the latest being just a few hours before. 

It was completely out of character for Rogue to be calling repeatedly. As one of the top fixers in Night City, she usually called once and only once. If you missed her call, you were shit out of luck. If she was feeling particularly generous that day, she may leave a voicemail. 

Ten calls but not a single voicemail. V stared at her phone, her brow knitted in confusion. If this holo hadn't been a gift from Judy after that Maelstrom gonk smashed her last one, she may have written it off as an error. But since Judy had built this tech herself, V knew that any errors were extremely unlikely. 

Thumb hovering over the call button, V startled when there was a loud knock at her door. Both she and Nibbles stared at the door. Most of her friends were in the biometric security system that Takemura had helped install and they very rarely bothered to knock. 

Standing slowly, V suddenly wished she had let Goro install the surveillance camera he had planned. Even if she wasn't sure if the legality of it. 

"Hello?" Her voice was raspy and there was no response. She felt silly. Since when was she afraid of anything? Still, she grabbed one of her throwing knives off the shelves by the door. Just in case. 

"Just open the door, you gonk." She recognized that voice and felt her heart leap into her throat. Without even thinking, V hit the button and the door slid open. 

"About fuckin' time, Samurai."


	2. Away We Go

Johnny had fucked up a lot of things in his life. Friendships, lovers- fuck, entire cities. He was famous not only for his music but also for his absolute disregard for the people around him. 

Happiness wasn't in the cards for Johnny. He was damaged beyond repair. He chewed up and spit out anyone who dared to try and then Soul Killer had put an end to his miserable existence. 

Then V came along. 

She was asleep next to him, her face an inch away from his. The rockerboy focused on the light dusting of freckles across her cheeks and the way that her piercings glowed in the dim light. He relished the feeling of her breath tickling his face and wondered if he would ever get sick waking up next to her. 

He wouldn't. He knew when that possessive feeling swelled in his chest at the Pistis Sophia. Giving her his dogtags was not something he had planned to do but even now they seemed as at home with her as he had. That necklace might as well be a wedding band in Johnny's eyes. Fuck, he had clawed his way out of the hell that was Mikoshi to come back to her. 

What a big fucking difference a few months could make.

Being locked in her head had seemed like a cruel fucking punishment at first. Not only was this particular merc stubborn as fuck and mouthy to boot, the cunt didn't even smoke. Even when the nicotine cravings were strong enough to leak into her, she refused to cave. 

"Only posers smoke." V had sneered at him. She had never been afraid to stand up for herself or what she believed in. 

Months of being stuck in her head had given Johnny a unique insight into what made V... well, V. 

From glimpses of her childhood in old Atlantic City scrounging for scraps in the decrepit casinos to riding across the continent with the Bakkers, Johnny was pretty sure that V had survived on sheer willpower alone. Well, that and spite. 

"My little Jersey girl.." 

At the sound of his voice, eyelashes fluttered open and sleepy eyes focused on his. "I told you not to call me that." V yawned and stretched much like the cat that was sleeping on the empty pillow behind him. 

He barked out a laugh and grabbed her, rolling her beneath him. "I'll call you whatever I want, you stubborn cunt." Johnny rubbed his face along hers, smirking to himself as V shrieked and tried to get away from the ticklish sensation. 

"Ah, stop it!" V pushed at his chest playfully and sighed when the tickling turned into kisses. "You're such a dick, Johnny." 

"Keep tellin' you, we fit together perfect."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really have NO idea where this story is going, right now I'm just writing mini chapters that hit me when I'm listening to music so?
> 
> This chapter was inspired by Away We Go by Coheed and Cambria.
> 
> Again, not beta'd so all typos are entirely my own fault.


End file.
